Search Market in China is only 10% of the United States, The Baidu story is only just beginning.

Clayton Reeves believes Baidu (BIDU) is a stock to buy now or regret later.

Their presence in the largest internet user community in the world will enable them to create incredible returns for their shareholders. Right now, the search market in China is only 10% of the United States, but in five years the picture will be different.

He believes the shares have been kept low because analysts are questioning the business model that these search companies currently use. However, Google has been plenty successful using that strategy to gain a stranglehold on the world search market and a brand that has enabled them to branch into operating systems and browsers.

Baidu could be the same such beast for the billions of Chinese residents that will access the internet in the next decade.

Baidu is also working on features to seize the key battlegrounds such as the evolving 3G mobile data market, music and video and ‘massive multi-user games’ or MMGs, where some rivals are already threatening to steal a march.

"We want to become a legendary company and the future is all ahead of us,"Jennifer Li, (chief financial officer of Baidi.com) says. "The Baidu story is only just beginning."

Chinese Opinion - Without Google? It is fine

Google’s bombshell announcement to retreat from China puts the country’s Internet management system in the spotlight. In the west’s eyes, there is no network freedom in China and Chinese netizens are kept silent out of fear, the truth might be another story.

The Internet world is characterized by opening and anarchy. To maintaining a healthy and stable Internet environment, China has its obligation to block any Internet contents relating to national security, pornography and violence.

Moreover, China is not the only one with the management of Internet. In US, after the 9/11 attacks, George. W. Bush enacted the The 2001 USA Patriot Act to censor the Internet and authorize the US government or law enforcing departments to block any on-line content that endangers national security and in Germany, laws also require all the Internet cafes to censor and block anything about racism, terrorism, violence and pornography.

So the Internet world is not absolutely free, but it can develop well by proper management. Under the government’s regulation, China’s Internet society and business are not refrained, but going into their prosperity.

The Chinese Internet society is expanding in terms of volume and power. Internet users hit 384 million by the end of 2009, according to report by China Internet Network Center (CNNIC). It has the largest population of Internet users.

Besides that, Chinese netizens are flexing their muscles. As more and more news is exposed and hyped by Internet instead of traditional media, the Internet has grown to be an independent source of news and a main channel for grass root netizens to express their opinion and participate in the public affairs. Netizen’s supervision has helped improve the governance and achieve judicial justice

It is still clearly remembered that netizens’ scrutiny of a traffic accident, in which a wealthy drag racer killed a pedestrian at a high speed in Hanzhou the capital city of Zhejiang province, forced the police to revise its original arbitrary investigation statement and finally got the driver into jail. The Internet is on its way to promote China to be a more open and democratic society.

China’s Internet industry also shows its energy. The economic scale of China’s Internet industry reached 74.3 billion yuan in 2009, increasing by 30.7% to 2008 and it is estimate to be more than 100 billion yuan in 2010, according to the report by iResearch, a professional organization specializing in in-depth studying of customer behavior in Internet media and e-commerce.

The Internet market is also full of opportunities. Quite a number of Chinese Internet enterprises grow to be a giant from scratch. China’s privately hold the Alibaba Group, has reached Internet users in more than 240 countries and regions and successfully purchased Yahoo.cn in 2005 and its subsidiary Alibaba.com is the global leader in business-to-business (B2B) e-commerce. This has proved to world that Internet companies can succeed in China if they operate in the right way.

Baidu defeats Google in the Chinese market. Compared to Google, Baidu does a better job in the understanding of the local market, understanding of Chinese characters in Mandarin and the relations with advertisers.

China’s flourishing Internet industry and society demonstrates the country's Internet world develops well under its characteristic management. The market will continue its development in its own way, no matter whether there is Google.cn or not. It is unfair to China that the west puts their finger into China’s Internet regulation.

Source: China Daily

One number. Many ways to sell you stuff.

Google Voice is what Fortune’s Apple 2.0 columnist Philip Elmer-DeWitt has called “the universal telephone number and voice mail system the telcos should have offered us years ago.”

Google Voice (formerly GrandCentral) is a telecommunications service by Google launched on 11 March 2009. The service provides a U.S. phone number, chosen by the user from available numbers in selected area codes, free of charge to each user account. Inbound calls to this number are forwarded to other phone numbers of the subscriber. Outbound calls may be placed to domestic and international destinations by dialing the Google Voice number or from a web-based application. Inbound and outbound calls to US (incl. Alaska and Hawaii) and Canada are free of charge, while international calls are billed according to a schedule posted on the Google Voice website.

The service is configured and maintained by the user in a web-based application, styled after Google's e-mail service, Gmail. Users must have an established U.S. telephone service to activate Google Voice. Users must configure this and optionally, additional phone numbers that ring simultaneously when the Google Voice number receives a call. The user may answer and receive the call on any of the ringing phones. Google Voice provides additional features such as voicemail, call history, conference calling, call screening, blocking of unwanted calls, and voice transcription to text of voicemail messages. Received calls may be moved between configured telephones during a call.

Google Stock Down, Earnings, Revenue, Clicks and Price Per Click All Up

Google annouced its results for the 4th quarter beating analyst estimates.

Revenue rose 17% from a year ago on strong ad sales.

Revenue for the quarter ended December 31, excluding traffic acquisition costs, was $4.95 billion, slightly higher than the $4.92 billion analysts were expecting. Including those costs, Google posted total revenue of $6.67 billion.

Earnings were $2.19 billion, or $6.79 a share, higher than the analyst expectations of earnings per share of $6.50, and up from year-ago earnings of $1.62 billion, or $5.10 per share.

Traffic acquisition costs, the portion of revenue shared with Google’s partners, totaled $1.72 billion and represented 27 percent of ad revenue.

Paid clicks rose 13 percent from a year ago and the average cost per click increased 5 percent.

However despite the good news Google shares are down 5% to $554.21 in aftermarket trading.

New Google Nexus One vs iPhone

Nice One Google - Best Xmas Email

I thought this was brilliant!

Happy Holidays from Google

Hello,

As we near the end of the year, we wanted to take a moment to thank you for the time, energy, commitment, and trust you've shared with us in 2009.

With sharing in mind, this year we've decided to do something a little different. We hope you'll find it fits the spirit of the holiday season.

We're looking forward to working with you to build lasting success in 2010.

Happy Holidays,

Your Google Team

Google Chrome OS Netbook 4G MVNO

Could this be a good time to invest in Clearwire Communications (CLWR) they have entered into an agreement with Google to collaborate on a number of products and services. Clearwire Communications will also support the open-source Android platform and will work with Google to to offer certain other applications.

Major investors in Clearwire Communications are Sprint, Comcast, Time Warner Cable, Bright House Networks, Intel and Google.

Clearwire shareholders back Sprint venture

NEW YORK, Nov 20 (Reuters) - Clearwire Corp (CLWR) said on Thursday its shareholders had voted to approve its proposed high-speed wireless joint venture with Sprint Nextel Corp (S) that includes an investment of $3.2 billion from cable, Web and chip partners.
Analysts had widely expected the vote, which was the last remaining hurdle for the deal, to be in favor of the venture, which will take on the Clearwire name. The venture would build a network based on WiMax, an emerging high-speed wireless technology.
Clearwire, which has the consent of the majority of its lenders, said it expects to amend and restate its credit agreements shortly to permit the deal.
In early May Clearwire and Sprint announced plans for a $14.5 billion venture that they hope would give them a head-start on AT&T Inc (T) and Verizon Wireless in developing the next generation of wireless data services.
As part of the deal, five strategic partners are investing a combined $3.2 billion in the venture. They include Intel Corp (INTC), Google Inc (GOOG), Comcast Corp (CMCSA), Time Warner Cable Inc (TWC) and Bright House Networks.
It wasn't immediately clear why shares of both Clearwire and Sprint were down sharply following the news.
Clearwire fell 23 percent to $4.46 at mid-afternoon on Nasdaq. Sprint dropped 20 percent to $1.50 on New York Stock Exchange. (Reporting by Sinead Carew, editing by Richard Chang)

The Story behind Google Chrome

Google Chrome is an open source web browser developed by Google (named after the user interface frame of web browsers). It builds on components from other open source software, including WebKit and Mozilla, and is aimed at improving stability, speed and security, with a simple and efficient user interface.

The beta for the Windows version is due to be released September 2, 2008. Google will host a conference press that day at 18:00 GMT. Mac OS X and Linux versions are under development and will follow the Windows version.

New LOGO

How Cool is Cuil?

Technology Company Offers New Look at Search

MENLO PARK, Calif.—Cuil, a technology company pioneering a new approach to search, unveils its innovative search offering, which combines the biggest Web index with content-based relevance methods, results organized by ideas, and complete user privacy. Cuil (www.Cuil.com) has indexed 120 billion Web pages, three times more than any other search engine.




Cuil (pronounced COOL) provides organized and relevant results based on Web page content analysis. The search engine goes beyond today’s search techniques of link analysis and traffic ranking to analyze the context of each page and the concepts behind each query. It then organizes similar search results into groups and sorts them by category.

Cuil gives users a richer display of results and offers organizing features, such as tabs to clarify subjects, images to identify topics and search refining suggestions to help guide users to the results they seek.

“The Web continues to grow at a fantastic rate and other search engines are unable to keep up with it,” said Tom Costello, CEO and co-founder of Cuil. “Our significant breakthroughs in search technology have enabled us to index much more of the Internet, placing nearly the entire Web at the fingertips of every user. In addition, Cuil presents searchers with content-based results, not just popular ones, providing different and more insightful answers that illustrate the vastness and the variety of the Web.”

Cuil’s technology was developed by a team with extensive history in search. The company is led by husband-and-wife team Tom Costello and Anna Patterson. Mr. Costello researched and developed search engines at Stanford University and IBM; Ms. Patterson is best known for her
work at Google, where she was the architect of the company’s large search index and led a Web page ranking team. They refused to accept the limitations of current search technology and dedicated themselves to building a more comprehensive search engine. Together with Russell Power, Anna’s former colleague from Google, they founded Cuil to give users the opportunity to explore the Internet more fully and discover its true potential.

“Since we met at Stanford, Tom and I have shared a vision of the ideal search engine,” said Anna Patterson, President and COO of Cuil. “Our team approaches search differently. By leveraging our expertise in search architecture and relevance methods, we’ve built a more efficient yet richer search engine from the ground up. The Internet has grown and we think it’s time search did too.”

Cuil’s methods guarantee online privacy for searchers. Since the search engine ranks pages based on content instead of number of clicks, personal data collection is unnecessary, so personal search history is always private.

Summary of Cuil’s features:

• Biggest Internet search engine—Cuil has indexed 120 billion Web pages, 3x more than any other search engine
  
• Organized results—Cuil’s magazine-style layout separates results by subject and allows further search by concept or category
  
• Different results—Unlike other search engines, Cuil ranks results by the content on each page, not its popularity
  
• Complete privacy protection—Cuil does not keep any personally identifiable information on users or their search histories
  

About Cuil

Cuil (pronounced COOL) is a search engine that combines the largest Web index with content-based relevance methods, organized results, and complete user privacy. The company’s next generation approach to search is the result of proprietary breakthroughs in search architecture and ranking algorithms. Cuil’s employees have extensive experience in search, having worked at Google, IBM, eBay, AltaVista, Stanford University, the Internet Archive and other technology companies and research centers. Cuil is located in Menlo Park, California and has received series A funding from Tugboat Ventures and Greylock Partners, and series B funding from Madrone Capital Partners. Cuil derives its name from an old Irish word for knowledge, reflecting the background of co-founder and CEO, Tom Costello, who hails from Drogheda, Ireland. For more information, please visit www.cuil.com.

Contacts

Vince Sollitto, Cuil
press@cuil.com

Andrea MacLean, Manning Selvage & Lee
andrea.maclean@mslpr.com
415-293-2798

Contacts



Vince Sollitto, Cuil
press@cuil.com

Andrea MacLean, Manning Selvage & Lee
andrea.maclean@mslpr.com

Clearwire, Sprint Nextel to merge wireless units

KIRKLAND, Wash. — Clearwire and Sprint Nextel are planning to merge their wireless broadband units to create a new $14.55-billion (U.S.) wireless communications company.

The new company, to be named Clearwire, will receive a $3.2-billion investment from Intel Corp., Google Inc., Comcast Corp., Time Warner Cable Inc. and Bright House Networks. The investment is based on a target price of $20 per Clearwire share and will give the companies a 22 per cent stake in the new venture.

Sprint Nextel Corp. will be majority owner with a 51 per cent equity stake, while existing Clearwire shareholders will receive about 27 per cent interest.

Clearwire, which will concentrate on rolling out a mobile network based on the emerging WiMAX standard, will also receive an investment from Trilogy Equity Partners, led by U.S. wireless industry veteran John Stanton.

WiMAX promises faster download speeds than the latest networks run by cell-phone operators, and it's even seen as a potential competitor to fixed-line broadband.

Sprint and Clearwire, a startup founded by cellular pioneer Craig McCaw, had already announced their plans to build out networks using WiMAX technology, but had been looking for outside funding.

The new company will be led by Clearwire Chief Executive Benjamin Wolff, with Sprint Chief Technology Officer Barry West serving as president. West also leads Sprint's XOHM division.

The Kirkland, Wash.-based venture will house workers from Clearwire and Sprint's XOHM unit and will have research and development and other operations located in Herndon, Va.

The deal, which has been approved by the boards of all companies involved, is expected to close during the fourth quarter.

Clearwire, Sprint resume talks

Wireless Internet provider Clearwire Corp. and cellular operator Sprint Nextel Corp. have reportedly restarted talks to combine their high-speed wireless WiMax networks.

Sprint and Clearwire are discussing a joint venture that would attract funding from Intel Corp., a major backer of WiMax technology, which promises faster wireless Web connection speeds for laptops and cell phones than mobile operators' third-generation networks.

The companies have also approached Google Inc. and Best Buy Inc. about financing, according to a Wall Street Journal report.

Sprint has started rolling out its WiMax network in some markets and has said it wants to reach 100 million U.S. consumers by the end of this year.

Helen Chung, a Clearwire spokeswoman, declined to comment on the report. A Sprint spokesman did not immediately return a call and an e-mail for comment.

The companies' first attempt to forge a WiMax partnership ended in November, sending shares of the much smaller Clearwire down more than 40 percent in the ensuing weeks. Since then, the companies have discussed a plan to spin off Sprint's WiMax unit, called Xohm, and merge it with Clearwire, according to the report.

Clearwire operates pre-WiMax networks in 46 U.S. markets, including Seattle, Syracuse, N.Y., and Duluth, Minn. The Seattle-based company, founded by cellular pioneer Craig McCaw, is testing a full-fledged WiMax network in Portland, Ore.

Shares of Clearwire skyrocketed $2.43, or 19.5 percent, to $14.88 in afternoon trading, while Sprint's stock jumped 78 cents, or 7.8 percent, to $10.75.

2008 The Year of Widget Growth

Seemingly overnight, everyone is in love with widgets.

Consumers love the tiny software applications that let them share music, photos and videos, and even throw virtual sheep at one another, on social networks. And social networks love widgets because they help boost traffic and ad revenue on their sites.

On Facebook alone, users have installed nearly 13,000 widgets approximately 765 million times, according to Adonomics, a Web site that tracks widgets on the social network. Adonomics estimates the combined value of these widgets to be $374 million. There are also rumors that major media companies, notably News Corp. (nyse: NWS - news - people ), want to add developers to their stable of properties.

As a result, the number of individual hackers and companies that develop widgets has mushroomed to an estimated 100,000 worldwide, begging the question of whether the sector is in a bubble. Industry experts, however, say the concern is misplaced--for now--and that the fast ramp up is no different from what has happened in past generations of software development.

"It's too early to call it a bubble or a success," says Ross Levinsohn, the former News Corp. executive who oversaw the company's celebrated acquisition of MySpace. "You're really talking about the last six months as the real beginning of the growth of applications. It's just the beginning of what we're going to see over the next 12 to 18 months."

David Weiden, a partner at Khosla Ventures, which has invested in widget companies Slide and iLike, says a modest number of developers--about 20--received venture funding in 2007. He says investors are much more prudent now, and want to avoid the bubble conditions of a decade ago. "If there were widget companies that are public and have no revenue, I would say that's a financial bubble," Weiden says.

Slide founder Max Levchin likens the flurry of activity to the 1980s software-development boom. "It's very similar to shareware and freeware," says Levchin, who also co-founded online payment system PayPal. But widget development is a lot faster, he says. "It's like the 1980s played out in half a year."

The widget sector kicked into high gear last May when Facebook created an open platform for developers. Google (nasdaq: GOOG - news - people ) followed suit in November, announcing its own platform, OpenSocial. Applications for OpenSocial, however, have not been released yet, and development is said to be slow.

Jia Shen, co-founder of widget company RockYou!, says widget development is similar to Web site development, and thus, widgets are being valued the same way. "The metrics are about reach and not about how much money they're making," Shen says.

But unlike the dot-coms of old, many widgets are making money, mostly through advertising. Shen declined to discuss RockYou!'s revenues, but said that widget shops with just a few developers are raking in $80,000 a month in ad revenues.

Shen also says that some widgets have the potential to morph into full-fledged Web sites that can generate even more revenue. "There's been a lot of criticism of the applications as toys," he says. "One of our applications was Zombie, a goofy application that lets users ‘bite' friends virtually. After awhile people got bored with it, so we built it into a full-fledged game with virtual goods."

Indeed, corporations are viewing widgets less as frivolous gadgets, and more as business tools to boost traffic and ad revenue on their sites. "Six months ago, the thought of someone altering his or her homepage to incorporate someone else's widget into their brand [was considered] dilutive," says Jay Adelson, chief executive of social network Digg. "There's been an acceptance by traditional media that widgets give them some reciprocal benefit. In 2008, you'll see traditional brands that have controlled every element of their page open up."

To meet rising demand, developer shops are adding engineers and working round the clock to make new and better widgets. Flixster, which says its movie-review widgets have been installed on Facebook more than 13 million times and is also developing applications for Google's OpenSocial, has doubled its engineering staff to 12 since November.

But competition for engineering talent is fierce. "Most people have several options," says Flixster Chief Executive Joe Greenstein. "We pay reasonable salaries and give people generous stock options, but do we have to compete with the relatively high salaries from Google and Yahoo! (nasdaq: YHOO - news - people )? Yes."

Digg's Adelson says he has resorted to looking outside Silicon Valley for engineers. "We are trying like mad to hire more engineers," he says. "It's really, really hard. I pretty much have to import people from other states."

Levinsohn, now a partner at venture firm Velocity Interactive Group, says 2008 will be a big year for media-company acquisitions of Web 2.0 companies. In 2007, just a few tiny widget shops were absorbed by bigger ones, such as Slide. "There are a lot of good ideas that could benefit from big media," Levinsohn says. "You have a lot of companies that hit a wall and can't get beyond a certain level. They need the infrastructure and distribution of a large company."

Still, widget developers know they can't all be winners. "Not all the developers will survive," or get acquired, says Slide's Levchin. "I can look back to the '80s playbook and know what's going to happen."

Widget Wave
Bubbling Widget Growth
Wendy Tanaka, 01.02.08, 12:01 AM ET

Rogers ISP antics rattle net neutrality supporters

Rogers Communications Inc. plans to unveil technology that allows it to inject corporate content into any Web site its subscribers visit, but the move is generating outrage from net neutrality proponents as well as search engine giant Google Inc.

Earlier this week, a screen shot of a Rogers-modified Google home page – branded with a notice from the Toronto-based ISP – surfaced on numerous tech blogs. The message, which appears embedded into the body of the Web page, warns users who are close to reaching their monthly bandwidth capacity of the potential penalties they could face. Rogers later confirmed it is testing this service for a potential first quarter 2008 launch.

In the leaked screen shot, the top third of Google’s search page is obstructed by the corporate message; a fact that was troubling to the Mountain View, Calif.-based search engine.

“We are concerned about these reports,” a Google spokesperson said in an e-mail to ComputerWorld Canada. “As a general principle, we believe that maintaining the Internet as a neutral platform means that carriers shouldn't be able to interfere with Web content without users' permission. We are in the process of contacting the relevant parties to bring this to a quick resolution.”

And Google isn’t the only one raising the net neutrality issue, as many industry observers and bloggers were critical of Rogers’ new notification methods.

“This highlights the level of control network controllers have and in doing so further supports the need for net neutrality legislation,” Michael Geist, research chair of Internet and e-commerce law at the University of Ottawa, said.

As it is commonly defined, net neutrality is the idea that ISPs should treat all Web sites and traffic equally. But Taanta Gupta, vice-president of communications at Rogers, denied claims that the ISP is violating net neutrality and defended the notification service.

“This is not data substitution,” Gupta responded in an e-mail. “It is not linked to any specific search engine or Web site. It is simply a real-time message to a customer indicating that the customer has reached 75 or 100 per cent of their bandwidth limit.”

Gupta continued, saying that real-time notifications are more effective at reaching customers than e-mails and that Rogers “do not have e-mails for all [of its] customers.”

But according to Internet policy critics such as Pippa Lawson, executive director at the University of Ottawa’s Canadian Internet Policy and Public Interest Clinic (CIPPIC), the ill-conceived and intrusive actions of the ISP are similar to those of spyware and malware companies and said it Rogers own fault that its ruined email as a useful medium for communication.

“I’m a Rogers subscriber and I just don’t look at the stuff they send anymore, because most of it is crap,” Lawson said. “Rogers has chosen to muddy their e-mail with stuff that its subscribers don’t need or want to hear about. This is exactly the medium for this kind of important information and they should be using it for these notifications rather than ongoing promotions and advertising.”

Another blogger, co-editor Boing Boing co-editor Cory Doctorow, said Rogers’ actions could be the first in a line of more serious net neutrality violations.

“There has been speculation that Rogers would love to insert advertisements via these means, which would certainly be coherent with its known behaviour lately,” Doctorow said.

Some industry observers have even gone so far to question the legality of the service. Russell McOrmond, an Internet consultant and head of the Digital Copyright Canada blog, said that because Rogers forces its users onto its Web proxy, modifying and distribution Web pages could become a copyright issue. According to McOrmond, when a Rogers subscriber accesses a particular Web site, the next person that accesses said Web site gets the images and content from Rogers cache rather than having to load it themselves.

A Web proxy services the requests of its clients by forwarding requests to other servers and having clients connects to the proxy when accessing files or Web pages. A proxy server may also cache the first request to the remote server, so it could save the information for later. The cache acts as a temporary storage area where frequently accessed data can be stored for rapid access and future use can be made by accessing the cached copy rather than re-fetching or recompiling the original data.

“When Rogers modifies the html file in their cache and sends it to its subscribers, it means the Web page has become a derivative work of the original page under copyright,” McOrmond said. “So if the licence for the particular Web site being modified does not allow for derivative works, Rogers would becomes a pirate. This is a modified work which is considered a worse violation of copyright than verbatim distribution for free.”

Rogers spokespeople did not respond to a series of follow-up questions sent via e-mail Tuesday afternoon.

By: Rafael Ruffolo
ComputerWorld Canada

TomTom and Google team up on business information

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - Dutch navigation systems company TomTom (TOM2.AS: Quote, Profile, Research) said on Wednesday it was teaming up with Internet search leader Google Inc (GOOG.O: Quote, Profile, Research) so users can find and send business addresses to their portable devices.

TomTom, which makes navigation devices for cars and mapping software for handheld computers, said in a statement its users would be able to search for business addresses on Google Maps and transfer them to their TomTom device.

"This cooperation represents a major step for TomTom in meeting the growing demands of our customers for personalized content for their TomTom devices," said Eric Pite, vice president for product management at TomTom.

TomTom shares, which tumbled on Tuesday after announcing an equity issue to help fund its purchase of digital map supplier Tele Atlas (TA.AS: Quote, Profile, Research), were up 2.4 percent at 60.40 euros by 3:03 a.m. EST, compared with a 0.7 percent rise on the DJ Stoxx technology index .

TomTom said its users would be able to transfer information to their devices when they are connected to the Internet with one mouse click and then view the location on their TomTom.

It said it would continue to explore partnerships with third parties to expand the personalization options it offers.

The tie-up would for instance allow TomTom users to plan a city trip by searching for accommodation, restaurants or museums using Google Maps on their computer and then transfer the places they want to visit to their TomTom device.

TomTom's devices do include so-called "points of interest" -- such as restaurants, petrol stations and parking garages -- but if a user has not regularly bought map upgrades, such data can become out of date.

Industry experts have also argued that consumers usually do not sit in their cars using a navigation system to plan trips, and are much more likely to use their computers at home, where they have full Internet access.

TomTom expects a substantial number of devices sold next year to be online and receiving real-time traffic information and eventually other services over wireless networks.

These services could help TomTom fend off a challenge from handset makers such as Nokia (NOK1V.HE: Quote, Profile, Research), which are increasingly building global positioning (GPS) technology into phones, promising to turn a cellphone into a navigation device.

Nokia, the world's largest handset maker, signaled in October this month it was serious about GPS by offering to pay $8.1 billion to take over digital map maker Navteq (NVT.N: Quote, Profile, Research).

TomTom was forced to raise its bid for Tele Atlas to about 2.9 billion euros last month to seal the deal after U.S. rival Garmin (GRMN.O: Quote, Profile, Research) offered 2.3 billion euros for the company.

(Reporting by Emma Thomasson, editing by Will Waterman)

McCaw Bets Again on Wireless Frontier

An article in the Wall Street Journal sheds a bit more light some of the plans Sprint and Clearwire have been considering for their WiMAX businesses after ending their plans to build out a nationwide network together. The article, which features a rare interview with Clearwire's Craig McCaw (although very light on the quotes and attributions), says Sprint's board last week rejected a plan to spin off the WiMAX unit and merge it with Clearwire. Meanwhile, it says Clearwire is holding discussions with parties that might include Intel, Comcast and Google about a direct partnership.

Read Full Article »

New WiMax Players Could Emerge As Sprint, Clearwire Split

NEW YORK -(Dow Jones)- The early end to the partnership between Sprint Nextel Corp. (S) and Clearwire Corp. (CLWR) opens the possibility of others getting involved with WiMax, a longer range version of WiFi seen as an attractive way of connecting consumers online.

Those who might pursue a WiMax partnership include Google Inc. (GOOG), cable companies or satellite TV providers. Clearwire - which builds and operates the WiMax network and service - also could try to expand the business itself, and then there's the possibility that Sprint, after it finds a new chief executive, could seek a reconciliation.

"It's fair to say we are looking and exploring all of our potential strategic options," Clearwire Chief Executive Ben Wolff told analysts on a Friday conference call. "There's quite a lot of focus on this space now."

The attraction of WiMax isthe ability to provide an alternative road to the Internet, freeing a number of industries from the stranglehold placed on them by the telecommunications and cable companies. The potential to offer mobile phone service over WiMax is attractive to cable. For Clearwire, Kirkland, Wash., partnering with a household name gives it instant credibility and the means to acquire additional wireless spectrum.

But the cost of building out the network may serve as a detriment to some, and was likely a concern that Sprint, Reston, Va., factored in when ending its partnership.

Sprint's departure is a huge blow to Clearwire. Shares are down 25% to $13.46.

Google In Play?

Of all the possible alliances, the most intriguing is a potential deal with Google. The Internet giant recently unveiled its Android mobile phone operating system and the Open Handset Alliance in an effort to push its philosophy of an open network, which would fit well with WiMax wireless technology.

Google also plans to participate in the upcoming Federal Communications Commission auction for wireless spectrum, which could give it the necessary spectrum to build a national network, although it has little interest in building one.

Enter Clearwire, which could handle the deployment and run the service for Google. In return, it would get the backing of a high-profile company and nationwide reach. Industry observers say that the expanded reach is critical when launching a new service, and that a local market approach won't cut it.

"If you build a national product, you need a powerful brand, or be willing to work with multiple partners with powerful brands who can attract a large customer base," said Rory Altman, a partner at consulting firm Altman Vilandrie & Co.

Google couldn't immediately be reached for comment. Wolff, on the call, said the company doesn't comment on any potential partnerships.

Cable, Satellite In The Mix

Clearwire also has a partnership with DirecTV Group Inc. (DTV) and EchoStar Communications Corp. (DISH) in which the satellite companies will bundle its television service with Clearwire's WiMax connection, giving it a pipe into the home.

An independent Internet pipe into the home is critical for the satellite companies because their major bundling partner, the telecommunications companies, are building their own TV service.

"Without (another Internet connection), they risk economic foreclosure in the 40% of the country where the telcos build fiber, as the only two broadband pipes available in that portion of the country will be tied - potentially inextricably - to competing video offerings," Craig Moffett, an analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. LLC, said in a note.

The satellite companies could strengthen its relationship with Clearwire and help it acquire more spectrum in the FCC auction. It attempted to buy spectrum in the last major auction a year ago, but was quickly outbid.

Both EchoStar and DirecTV say that they haven't changed their partnership with Clearwire, and declined to comment beyond that.

Sprint backing away from Clearwire opens up the possibility that the cable companies could get involved. The cable companies could work with Clearwire, but the more likely path is hooking up with Sprint. Moffett, while acknowledging it's quite speculative, said the cable companies could use WiMax to as the " answer to the wireless question."

A deal isn't without complications. The existing relationship - a cellular joint venture called Pivot - has been a disappointment, and Sprint recently stopped the expansion of its service. But the two parties remain close.

"Cable, despite the evident difficulties in getting their voice-based venture with Sprint off the ground, remains allied with Sprint," Moffett said.

Time Warner Cable Inc. (TWC) declined to comment. But on Wednesday, Chief Executive Glenn Britt told analysts the company was exploring different wireless technologies.

"There's an alphabet soup of this, but it's WiMax, 4G, et cetera, et cetera, and it's different flavors I don't think anybody in the whole world really understands exactly where the technology is going."

Comcast Corp. (CMCSK, CMCSA) also declined to comment.

Clearwire On Its Own

Clearwire could attempt to expand alone but would be relegated to a local player.

"Clearwire returns to more of a local market model," said Jonathan Schildkraut, an analyst at Jefferies & Co. "We're still seeing the early stages of that model coming together."

The company is deploying in smaller markets but still has few customers. In the third quarter, it added 49,000 subscribers to bring its base to 348,000. Because of the wireless spectrum it owns, it can only serve smaller markets.

Clearwire operates like a local wireless provider such as Leap Wireless International Inc. (LEAP), building from market to market in a slow expansion.

Sprint, meanwhile, said it is on track for a soft launch of its Xohm WiMax service, considered a longer range version of WiFi, by the end of the year, with a commercial launch expected next year. Spokeswoman Leigh Horner declined to comment beyond those plans, only saying that the company would further review its deployment next year.

The best move may be a reconciliation. Sprint and Clearwire fit together well both in terms of their complementary wireless spectrum and their experience with the technology, and they will likely still work together down the line. Sprint would have given Clearwire a national presence and depth in spectrum, as well as access to Sprint's backhaul network infrastructure.

"We are continuing to discuss with Sprint on how to best collaborate on building a WiMax network," Clearwire's Wolff said. "I can't say if a deal will be reached."

He noted that all of the reasons that brought the two parties together still remain, but that the company has to move forward.

"At the end of the day, Sprint and Clearwire will figure out ways to work it out," Schildkraut said. "I do not think that Sprint is going away in the WiMax world."

-By Roger Cheng, Dow Jones Newswires

One Companies Loss (Sprint) is another Companies Gain (Google)

Will the split between Clearwire & Sprint be to the advantage of Clearwire...Will Google buy Clearwire or Partner with them...

Sprint and Clearwire have big holdings in 2.5 GHz , other countries outside of the USA are also looking at 2.5 GHz as the place for WiMAX deployment. So that means that equipment etc. could work (potentially) worldwide. That isn't the case with 700 MHz, where only the U.S. is deploying it (so far) for wireless services. Everyone else is still using 700 MHz for television.

Now Sprint and Google have announced they're NOT working together. This is where it was going:

Sprint network bandwidth, location detection and presence capabilities will be matched with Google’s popular communications suite – Google AppsTM – that combines the GmailTM, Google CalendarTM and Google TalkTM services. Customers will be able to experience a new form of interactive communications, high speed Internet browsing, local and location-centric services, and multimedia services including music, video, TV and on-demand products.

Google is spreading its bets, and sees global potential in WiMAX.

Here is the thinking driving this latest Google rumor across the blogosphere. Google is interested in the 700 MHz spectrum auction. Google is also interested in WiMax. Since Google was a part of the Sprint, Clearwire WiMax partnership, the apparent end of that relationship would indicate that Google is out in the cold when it comes to a WiMax partner.

Google G-Phone

New G-Phone developed on Android open platform for mobile phones and the Open Handset Alliance.

WiMax Global Push, US Blip!

The WiMax Global push is being tainted by the departure of the Sprint CEO in the US, however there is a lot of weight behind making WiMax work, there are big companies supporting WiMax worldwide. Nokia has agreed to build base stations and has a stake in offering handsets as well. Samsung has also joined the alliance of companies pushing the 4G technology.

Trading around $20, Clearwire has not been a big stock market success. Its shares got a nice lift to $35 when it announced its WiMax alliance with Sprint. But, the shares are off at $21. Clearwire's current debt load is modest at $655 million, but, if it has to go it alone, that will rise. The company's market cap is $3.4 billion.

Sprint's market cap is $51 billion. Its revenue run rate is about $10.5 billion a quarter. Operating income in the June quarter was $316 million. The company's debt load, at $21.7 billion, is fairly heavy.

Sprint and Clearwire are facing the challenge of AT&T (T) buying licenses from Aloha in the 700 MHz frequency covering 196 million people in 281 markets, including 72 of the top 100 metropolitan areas and all of the top 10 markets. The FCC is going to auction off more 700 MHz.spectrum in January. Access to this will provide wireless operators the ability to offer better wireless broadband which is tough competition for WiMax.

Kevin Martin and the FCC have allowed for part of the 700 band to be reserved for open access - which would allow the bandwidth to be used on any device, in any way.

Google has announced that they will be throwing in their bid at the FCC’s $4.6 billion reserve price, but only if the FCC agrees to Google’s expanded demands for open access. Eric Schmidt, Google CEO, says that if the FCC will agree to open applications, open devices, open services, and open networks (conditions outlined in Google’s previous proposal), then Google will play ball.

The auction could net Google a prime piece of spectrum real estate from which to launch their very own wireless broadband network.

Will Google invest in Clearwire?

Sprint and Clearwire can face the competition separately and probably take a severe beating. Or, they can put together one company, Perhaps Intel, Nokia, and Samsung would make strategic investment to help finance building the US WiMax network. Having a single company building instead of two would save hundreds of millions of dollars.